Monday, February 17, 2025

Los Angeles Wildfires Could Likely Be Affecting Ocean Life

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The wildfires that have devastated parts of Los Angeles, California in the past weeks have resulted in ash and debris being scattered over the ocean surface as far as 160km/100 miles offshore, scientists have found.

Researchers from UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography and NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center were operating off the California coast when the Palisades, Eaton and other fires broke out.

The NOAA Ship Reuben Lasker and its crew began collecting samples of the ash from the deck and the surrounding waters. NOAA has adjusted the ship’s course to revisit the area to track any effects on the marine ecosystem. The survey is part of the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) program among the state of California, Scripps Oceanography and NOAA.

According to NOAA Fisheries’ chief scientist for the survey Nicolas Concha-Saiz:

“We’re positioning ourselves to answer the question, ‘What does this mean for West Coast fisheries and the food web that we all depend on?’”

While project leader Julie Dinasquet of Scripps Oceanography said:

“These fires are not only consuming vegetation but also massive amounts of urban infrastructure. This introduces a novel ‘urban ash’ component to the wildfire source, filled with exceptionally toxic materials such as heavy metals like lead, arsenic, as well as asbestos fibers, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and microplastics. These fires pose a potential significant threat to both humans and ecosystems through the introduction of a large amount of toxic material in the system.”

Scripps Oceanography biological oceanographer Rasmus Swalethorp, CalCOFI’s director of ship operations, added:

“Seeing it snowing, but knowing it wasn’t snow but ash was really eerie. It seemed apocalyptic. I can only imagine how it must have been on land.”

John Liang
John Lianghttps://www.deeperblue.com/
John Liang is the News Editor at DeeperBlue.com. He first got the diving bug while in High School in Cairo, Egypt, where he earned his PADI Open Water Diver certification in the Red Sea off the Sinai Peninsula. Since then, John has dived in a volcanic lake in Guatemala, among white-tipped sharks off the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, and other places including a pool in Las Vegas helping to break the world record for the largest underwater press conference.

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